An Actor-Singer Is Like Two People

Years ago, on David Letterman’s NBC show, there was a skit in which a man was killed. He wasn’t really killed; he was comic-killed. Paul Schaffer rushed to his side. “He’s dead! The actor-singer is dead,” he said. “That’s like killing two people.” That skit should be broadcast simultaneously on every television channel in the world each time an actor ventures into the pop-music realm, but we’ll make a tentative exception for Zooey Deschanel, who has teamed up with M. Ward to record an album as She & Him. Deschanel is charming as an actress and seems to be equally so as a singer, with her quirkiness intact but not overpowering. The duo’s first song, “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here,” is available for download at Merge Records, and the début album, “Volume 1,” will be out March 18. Below, enjoy a sequel to the actor-singer skit, from April, 1986.—Ben Greenman

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